Business

iCracked is Banking on Your Cracked iPhone Screen

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Name: iCracked

One-Liner Pitch: A network of iTechs in every city provides customers with device repair, buyback, insurance or redistribution.

Why It's Taking-Off: The startup makes it cheaper and more convenient to repair broken screens on iPhones, iPads and iPods — and soon, Android devices, too.

AJ Forsythe, 25, and Anthony Martin, 26, first met during their freshman year at California Polytechnic State University. AJ admired Anthony’s entrepreneurial spirit; he had started a peer-to-peer textbook rental company in Santa Barbara. Forsythe's sights were set beyond the classroom, too. He harvested grapes with his brother at a local winery and ran a beekeeping business, in addition to juggling his psychology and biology classes.

But he saw potential elsewhere: fixing iPhone screens. During his junior year, with the help of some friends in electrical engineering, Forsythe discovered how to repair a cracked screen on his phone without taking it to the Apple store. So one day, particularly despondent after a job fair, he set up shop in the school library, creating flyers for his new business idea on Microsoft Paint and hanging them in every classroom on campus. That led to bringing Martin — along with a few others — on board. Their mission: to reach every college campus in the United States.

“You learn more in the first six weeks of starting company than in all four years of college,” Forsythe said to Mashable in an interview. “There is so much you can learn from starting something new.”

Now, the 30-person iCracked team employs more than 300 on-demand “iTechs” in 11 countries, who deftly repair thousands of Apple devices — iPhones, iPads and iPods — each month. With a hiring rate of about 50 new iTechs each month, iCracked is essentially building a base of brand evangelists.

The company also offers mail-in services or DIY fix-it kits, which include three screwdrivers to pry off the screen, a plastic Spudger, a microfiber cloth and SIM card tray opener.

Currently, iCracked is solely devoted to the Apple market, a niche that Forsythe says accounts for more than $5 billion in repairs in the U.S. each year. But as the company grows, it’s looking to expand to Android devices in the next nine to 12 months.

The company first raised $700,000 through Y Cominbator, and is on track to break $10 million in revenue this year.

Part of iCracked’s expanded business model also includes developing a Uber-like dispatch model for device buybacks. Instead of finding a donation center for old or broken smartphones and tablets, an iCracked customer can press a button on his phone, and an iTech will arrive at his door in real time, ready to purchase the device for cash on the spot. (The company plans to provide pricing quotes through the iCracked mobile site or app, which is also in the works.)

“In 2013, you need to be able to press a button and not have to worry about anything,” Forsythe said. “We don’t think eBay is the best choice for consumers. It can be simplified.” The on-demand buyback system will roll out across San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York in the next several months.

Repair requests stream in from all corners of the country: a skydiver who dropped his iPhone while trying to film a friend; a mom who almost lost the video footage of her daughter’s first steps; college students whose several-hundred-dollar devices end up on dirty frat house floors.

The price tag on most iPhone repairs ranges between $70 and $99, while iPads can rack up to $200 in repairs, depending on the device damage.

“A lot of our customers will pay for the convenience. We’re a transparent premium service, not a fly-by-night repair company,” Forsythe said. But fly they might: The company aims to provide service to customers within 60 seconds or less of their requests, which may be possible in New York City, but not, say, North Dakota.

iCracked isn't the only game in town, but it might be the most accessible. Unauthorized smartphone repair shops are scattered across many cities, above apartments or in basements, using tools like razor blades. Other more established locales, like Gotham Iphone, are confined to specific cities.

Have you used a service like iCracked to fix a shattered iPhone screen? Let us know in the comments below.

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